New Garrett Farm Marker to be Replaced

[BettyO]

This article was on the Fredericksburg.com site this afternoon regarding the Booth/Garrett Farm Marker on Route 301 -

http://www.fredericksburg.com/news/local...f3113.html

Virginia OKs new marker for Lincoln assassin's death site in Caroline County
STATE WILL INSTALL NEW SIGN ON NORTHBOUND U.S. 301 TO SHOW WHERE LINCOLN KILLER WAS SLAIN


BY CLINT SCHEMMER / THE FREE LANCE–STAR

An absent testament to Caroline County’s most famous historic event—indeed, one of the best-known in American history—will be put back in place, a Virginia agency announced today.
The state will replace a roadside marker near the death site of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, actor John Wilkes Booth, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources says.
The dramatic actions there ended what was (perhaps until the hunt for Osama bin Laden) the biggest manhunt in United States history.
The previous black-and-silver metal marker, made in 1937, was stolen last October from its spot along northbound U.S. 301 about 2 miles south of Port Royal. It noted the location where U.S. cavalrymen captured and mortally wounded Booth.
VDHR said the sign’s replacement, titled “Assassin’s End,” will read:
“This is the site of Locust Hill, Richard Henry Garrett’s farm. Early on the morning of 26 April 1865, a 16th New York Cavalry detachment cornered John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, and his co-conspirator, David E. Herold, as the two men slept in Garrett’s tobacco barn.
“Herold gave himself up, but Booth refused to surrender. The barn was set on fire, and Sgt. Boston Corbett shot the assassin, still inside. Booth was laid on the porch of the Garrett house and died about sunrise. The house and barn stood a short distance from this spot.”
The old marker, No. EP– 27, had read: “This is the Garrett place where John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Lincoln, was cornered by Union soldiers and killed, April 26, 1865. The house stood a short distance from this spot.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation will determine the site for the new marker, said Randall B. Jones, spokesman for the Historic Resources Department. It may not be erected where the old one was, he said.
The new marker is being sponsored by the Surratt Society in Clinton, Md. The volunteer group interprets the history of the Surratt House, the 1852 farmhouse and tavern of John and Mary Surratt. Mary Surratt, convicted in Lincoln’s assassination and hanged at the Washington Arsenal Penitentiary with three co-conspirators, was the first white women executed by the U.S. government.
The Garrett barn site, the Surratt House (now a museum) and other sites along the route of Booth’s flight from Washington after the assassination on April 15, 1865, are popular stops today on periodic John Wilkes Booth Escape Route tours periodically conducted by historians, private groups and the Smithsonian Associates.
The Surratt Society paid the manufacturing cost of the marker, as is required by the state program.
The replacement marker and eight new markers were approved by the state Board of Historic Resources, appointed by the governor, during its quarterly meeting in December.
The Virginia highway marker program, begun in 1927 with installation of the first historical markers along U.S. 1, is considered the oldest such program in the nation.
Virginia marker program: dhr.virginia.gov Booth escape route map: civilwartraveler.com/maps Online tour: civilwarstudies.org/tours-booth.shtm Mary Surratt: surrattmuseum.org

[RJNorton]

Wonderful! Thanks for posting this, Betty!

[Thomas Kearney]

Great to hear that there will be a new marker. Places in our history need to be marked

[L Verge]

Unfortunately, the sign will have to go back to the same area where it was stolen - on the right-hand shoulder of 301, across the dual-lanes of Rt. 301. Dave Taylor and I had wanted it moved to its original location of years ago in the median strip within feet of the site of the Garrett farmhouse porch where Booth died. That was rejected for safety sake. The median strip had a pull-off (before barricades went up) that was wide enough for our tour buses, but the officials feared the safety factor. Where they are putting it back practically prevents anyone from stopping to read the sign.

[Gene C]

that makes sense....if you work for the government

[DKEast]

(01-09-2015 11:35 AM)Gene C Wrote:  
that makes sense....if you work for the government

Actually the concept of left hand deceleration and acceleration are not the desired movements from a DOT perspective. Most of this activilty occurs on the right hand side of the road. However, if you think of it, where applicable, on roadways with a median wide enough, it is used. In fact in Maryland on I-95 the travel plazas are located in this manner. Furthermore, the state of Maryland welcome center a few miles up the road from the Bay Bridge is likewise situated. So it is NOT a sacrosanct rule. Indeed, the lighter traffic volume of Route 301 south of the Rt. 17 interchange is nowhere near the I-95 and Maryland Welcome Center roadway volumes. So, a welcome center constructed as a replica of the Garrett farmhouse would be a welcomed addition to Caroline County which needs such a boost, not to mention the delightful town of Port Royal which I visited (along with the Garrett site) in April 2008. The charming Port Royal Tavern had just reopened on St. Patrick's Day that year but I understand is now closed.

[Carolyn Mitchell]

Jack Stemmle posted this photo on the The Lincoln Assassination Facebook page. Looks like it's the new sign.

[DKEast]

That's what I saw on April 15th - it looked like a brand new sign on the northbound pulloff. About a hundred fifty yards towards Port Royal on the other side of 301 is where the left side pulloff used to be.

[L Verge]

That is the new sign. The state installed it in time for the festivities in Caroline County this coming weekend. Because of the treacherous road situation around the sign, however, the formal dedication of the sign will take place with a replica at the Port Royal Museum on Sunday, April 26, at 2 pm.

[RJNorton]

Thank you to Laurie for sending this press release from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

State Historical Highway Marker

“Assassin’s End”

To Be Dedicated in Port Royal

A state historical marker issued by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources that marks the nearby site of the Garrett Farm where Union troops cornered and killed John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago this month, will be dedicated this Sunday.

The dedication and unveiling ceremony for the marker will begin at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 26, at Port Royal Museum of American History, located at 506 Main Street, in Port Royal. The event is open to the public.

Speakers will include Carolyn Davis, president of Historic Port Royal; Dave Taylor, a board member of Historic Port Royal and a member of the Surratt Society; and James Hare of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The sign marks the site of Locust Hill, the farm of Richard Henry Garrett, where Booth was cornered along with his co-conspirator, David E. Herold, by a detachment of the 16th New York Cavalry as the two men slept in Garrett’s tobacco barn.

“Herold gave himself up,” the marker reads, “but Booth refused to surrender. The barn was set on fire, and Sgt. Boston Corbett shot the assassin, still inside. Booth was laid on the porch of the Garrett house and died about sunrise,” the marker states.

The marker is sponsored by the Surratt Society and was approved for manufacture by the Department of Historic Resources in December 2014.

The “Assassin’s End” marker replaces a prior marker titled “John Wilkes Booth” which stood at the Garrett Farm site from 1937 until it disappeared in October 2014. The new marker updates and expands the text of the prior marker.

Virginia’s historical highway marker program, which began in 1927 with the installation of the first historical markers along U.S. Route 1, is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,500 official state markers, most maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, as well as by local partners in jurisdictions outside of VDOT’s authority.

Text of the marker:

Assassin’s End

This is the site of Locust Hill, Richard Henry Garrett’s farm. Early on the morning of 26 April 1865, a 16th New York Cavalry detachment cornered John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, and his co-conspirator, David E. Herold, as the two men slept in Garrett’s tobacco barn. Herold gave himself up, but Booth refused to surrender. The barn was set on fire, and Sgt. Boston Corbett shot the assassin, still inside. Booth was laid on the porch of the Garrett house and died about sunrise. The house and barn stood a short distance from this spot.

[Jenny]

Very excited for the new marker!

[DKEast]

Hmmmm 1937 - was the marker placed after the house collapsed on itself? And when was the other marker (southbound 301) just past Rt 17 placed?